The Ultimate Consumer Journey Guide: Tools To Help You Choose The Best Financial Product
Deciding on the best financial product for yourself can be a difficult task.
With the advancement of technology, the internet allows us access to information at the click of a button. This, however, opens more doors to a whole new set of problems.
With Google and Facebook bagging a huge part of the globe’s marketing budget, how do we know if our research on a certain financial product is accurate and not just another marketing gimmick?
TL;DR: Tools to help one choose the right financial product in Singapore
The Consumer journey we go through before buying a product
While there is no one size fits all product for everyone, there can be a one size fits all consumer journey to getting a financial product.
This journey is not complicated as it sounds.
In fact, we are using the same journey in our day to day purchases.
Very much like getting your favourite pair of shoes, you go through 4 phases before ending up with your favourite pair of sneakers (and parting with your money).
Discovery and awareness
This first step will be discovery and awareness.
Just last week I came across Limited Edition’s Instagram account and they featured these two pairs of beauty.
Source: Limited Edition Singapore
It was as though these pairs of sneakers are stalking me, I chanced upon it on an article online again:
source: Hypebeast
Reseach and ask questions
At this stage, I am a step closer to getting the pair of shoes. This is, however, not until I do a further research on it.
For a start, I went on to ask people around me some questions.
Next, I went on to see if the product is suitable for me. In this case, if this pair of shoes goes well with my wardrobe.
Making a decision
When it comes to making a decision on a purchase, there are usually two main important elements that will ascertain the consumer’s decision.
- A more in-depth comparison of all similar products. A comparison chart or video weighing the pros and cons of similar products at this stage helps further convince the consumer that he is making the correct decision.
Hence, we went on to compare the 2017 Nike VaporMax and the 2018 VaporMax to see if this pair of shoes is worth the buy. - Reading up on real user reviews and ratings, coupled with their experience with the product helps mitigate any possible biasedness that the media is showing us.
In fact, real user reviews are the best method to obtain other consumers’ hands-on experience with the product.
This is especially important in times like this, where influencers and new media are bombarding us with advertisements. Most of the time, these influencers do not even use the product for themselves.
In this case, I went on to check out this article on Sneaker News where it has 27 votes giving a rather positive review of the pair of shoes.
Purchase (Getting that good deal)
What is a consumer journey without the purchasing portion of the product?
Should a consumer finally decides on getting the product, he will need to decide on the retailer or platform to make his purchase on.
This is where Singaporean’s favourite verse such as cash back, miles, discounts, deals and promo codes come in.
In this case, I am torn between a few choices when getting my sneakers. I can’
- Head over to Limited Edition’s website to see if there is any card discount or deals if I were to purchase there
- Head over to some of ShopBack’s merchant to see if any of them carries the product, so as to enjoy cash back.
Further reading: Buying the right financial product in Singapore
Most Singaporeans avoid personal finance as a whole because it seems really complicated.
Yet, personal finance is important in helping us retire more comfortably and it is better to do so learn the ropes sooner than later. To make the consumer journey less taxing for Singaporeans who are just getting started on their personal finance journey, here are tools to help Singaporeans make smarter personal finance decisions and purchases.
Very much like the above, we break the whole journey into 4 phases and list out all the tools available.
Discovery and awareness of personal finance products
Financial blogs, content and courses are usually the best way to get yourself started on your personal finance journey.
One can pick up personal finance tips and explore some of the financial products he needs on his journey home to, and back from work.
Here are some blogs to help you out:
Reseach and ask questions with regards to financial products
Moving on to the next phase of the consumer journey.
Assuming that you a certain product got your attention and you would like to ask questions about it, here are some platforms to help one out.
To ask any personal finance questions, here are some possible platforms to help you out:
- Seedly Personal Finance Community
- BIGS World – Build Wealth, Live a Good Life
- Insurance Discussion SG
- fundMyLife
Seedly Personal Community encompassed 2 aspects:
These two platforms allow Singaporeans to discuss and ask questions on anything personal finance, on a day to day basis.
In fact, Seedly QnA allows one to ask a question anonymously.
When it comes to insurance questions, Insurance Discussion SG and fundMyLife can help one with their queries too.
Making a decision with regards to financial products
As mentioned, there are two important elements to further convince someone that a certain financial product is the best for him.
The first element is to have the financial product’s pros and cons compared with similar products. The second being real user experiences on the product as this gives the product a social proof.
With that, there are platforms to help you do so:
Financial products comparison sites:
Financial products comparison sites with real user reviews:
Seedly Reviews
Getting a good deal and purchasing your financial product
Lastly, to complete the consumer journey, one should have made up his mind to purchase a certain product.
In this case, it is time to hunt for a deal that makes the most economic sense, be it freebies on certain credit cards subscription or discounts.
Here are some sites where one can purchase his products:
- MoneySmart
- Singsaver
- Gobear
- iMoney
- ShopBack
Note: Some of the above platforms include sponsored content, and consumers should always do their homework before making certain purchases.
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